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THE FALASHAS 



DOCTOR JACQUES FAITLOVITCH 

Privat-Docent at the University of 
Geneva 



[Reprint from the American Jewish Year Book 5681] 



PHILADELPHIA 
THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 






THE FALASHAS 

BY DOCTOR JACQUES FAITLOVITCH 
PBIVAT-DOCENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA 

In Abyssinia, in the vast empire of the Negus, exist Jews 
called " Falashas." Their skin of a light black color and the 
regular and finely cut features which characterize them speak 
of a non-African race. Their name " Falasha," a surname 
given to them by the natives, and signifying exiled immi- 
grants, proves that they are strangers who came from abroad 
to establish themselves in Ethiopia. They call themselves 
Beta Israel ("The House of Israel"), and with great pride 
state that they are the offspring of the stock of Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob. Certainly no historical documents exist 
in writing, but their oral traditions, faithfully transmitted 
from father to son, sustain their claim as Jews. They 
maintain even to this day, as they have maintained throughout 
the centuries in this remote corner of the Dark Conti- 
nent, the assertion of descent from our ancestors, and this 
sincere claim, next to their religious hope, is their most cher- 
ished heirloom. When evils befall them, it constitutes their 
strength and their consolation. They always show them- 
selves worthy sons of our people, and in the past they have 
many times demonstrated that they possess the characteristics 
of our race, the vivifying force of the existence of Israel. ..Tliis- 
quality distinguishes them from their compatriots,- all of 
whom, Christians, Muslims3-afi4 pagans, bear witness io the 
relationship of the Falashas^the Jewish race and religion. 

1 



3 THE FALASHAS 

The Falashas profess a Mosaism which their religious litera- 
ture has slightly modified. It is this which, having raised 
hedges and practical barriers between them and the natives, 
has preserved them from assimilation and from the most 
abominable degeneracy. It is thanks to this religion that they 
have been conserved during thousands of years and, despite 
the oppression of the surrounding population and notwith- 
standing all disintegrating forces, they have remained morally 
and intellectually superior to the other natives. All travellers 
who have visited them have noticed their moral and intellec- 
tual superiority, and they attribute it to their religion which 
has saved them from the obsessing torpor of African barbar- 
ism. If these Jews are distinguished from their neighbors 
by the persistence of the character of their race, visible in the 
refinement of their features and in the vivacity of their intel- 
ligence, it is thanks to the traditional cult which has sur- 
rounded them with insurmountable walls and covered them 
with impenetrable armor. While preserving them in .the midst^ 
of the most dangerous of sup'erstitious and backward popula- 
tions, it has made them keep and practise good customs with in- 
terest and sincerity. The salutary observances prescribed by 
the Bible were their rampart, which preserved them from all 
contagious diseases of their country, and warded off many evils 
from their domestic circles. Isolated as they were during 
thousands of years from their coreligionists in other parts of 
the world, these Jews, living in the very heart of the popula- 
tions of this gigantic country of Africa, were more resisting 
and steadfast than a rock against the waves. 

Their belief, strictly monotheistic, raised their intelligence 
to a level which the aborigines, half fetichists, could never 
attain. They adore a God of life, of righteousness, and of 



THE FALASHAS 3 

justice. Always in their thoughts, He inspires them with 
hope in a future of universal peace and harmony. They 
abhor all idol worship, and in praying they raise their souls 
toward the Infinite. B y fo rmulas inserted in their liturgy, 
manifesting the unity of God, they reject and reprove the 
Christian dogmas of the son of God and of the trinity, and 
proclaim the immutability of the Torah. Like all Jews, they 
do not admit that the revealed law is subject to abrogation or 
to modifications. They pray to God to give them strength 
to obey His will and to give them power to accomplish all 
His precepts. Their prayers are touching; they utter them 
with tne most profound piety, and it is for the future of Israel 
that they address them to the " heaven of supreme felicity." 
It is the subiniie vision of the prophets that they see; it 
appears to them holy and glorious and charms them with its 
magic sweetness. They ask God to make Zion resplendent and 
to bring them back to Palestine, their cherished country. 
Like many Jews, they await the Messiah who will re-estab- 
lish the Jewish nation, and who, according to them, is to be 
a prince or a prophet of the issue of the family of David. 
The Jewish nation appears to them to be emerging from its 
suffering after a severe expiation, and all humanity is to 
become rejuvenated under the resplendent sun of universal 
peace. 

Their true religion, serene and beneficent, which inspires a 
love for active life and which has warded off the prevailing 
obscurantism of their country, could not prevent mysticism 
from becoming mixed with their belief. Circumstances arose 
which engendered it, and it served a very useful purpose for 
some time. A period of disaster and suffering constrained 
them to become attache_d to a number .pi mystical ^delusions, 



4 THE FALASHAS 

and this mysticism, born of necessity, was a salutary factor 
in their conservation. Because of it many among them for- 
got all their sufferings; it came upon them like a celestial 
light which consolidated them. Its founder, who lived at 
the beginning of the fifteenth century, became famous, and 
for a time the doctrine gained wide currency. Following a 
lively propaganda, discipil^Jl^ckedJrqm all partsjbo this be- 
lief, and even the son of a Christian king, who was a perse- 
cutor of these Jews, became a believer in this doctrine. 
According to legends, the conversion of the son of this king 
warded off persecutions which his father was about to hurl 
against the Falashas. The partisans of this doctrine of the 
contemplative life organized into brotherhoods, retired into 
the deserts and in these isolated places, they often passed 
their entire lives without the least contact with the outside 
world. To-day the members of this mystical order are 
very few in the region where the Falashas openly profess the 
ancestral religion, scarcely numbering fifty ; but they are more 
numerous in the southern provinces where they live outwardly 
as Christians and in lay orders. There they form isolated 
villages where all live together and where everything belongs 
to the confflnunity. 

The,iifiu_se^ of the Falashas are always separated from those 
of the Abyssinians. They live in separate quarters, and 
wherever they are found in great numbers they establish them- 
selves in a village quite at a distance from those of the other 
inhabitants, and they surround themselves with a hedge which 
serves them not only as an enclosure, but also as a defence 
against the approach of persons not belonging to their cult. 
Without consent, no strangers may enter within the limits of 
their establishment; never do they permit non-Jews to enter 



THE FALASHAS 5 

the_places reserved by them for a dwelling, and all their rela- 
tions with the exterior world are carried on outside of the 
precincts. They always take care to establish themselves 
near a river or a running stream in order to be able to take 
their ritual ablution. Their houses are constructed in the" 
same manner as those of the other inhabitants. They are 
shacks, huts, or cabins made of wood or of stone, cylindrical 
in shape, plastered both inside and outside with mud or clay, 
and the roof with a pointed top is covered with reed and straw. 
The door serves as the only opening for the light to pene- 
trate, although in the stone houses holes in the form of win- 
dows are often to be found. The houses are witJiout_ chim- 
neys, and only through the interstices in the thatch of the 
roof can the smoke of their fire-places find a passage. All 
their houses are built on the level with the ground, and rarely 
are any to be found with upper stories. They are almost 
always uniform, and each family, in accordance with its means, 
has one, two, or three huts. 

The furniture of these houses consists of very few objects. 
There are chairs formed of frames with seats of strips of 
leather interlaced, some tabourets or blocks of wood, and reed 
baskets which serve at the same time as tables. The bed is 
usually laid out in a corner of the house, raised a few inches 
from the ground, and is furnished with several straw pillows. 
Often there is found a species of beds in the form of a plat- 
form, and the well-to-do people are provided with several of 
these. Their bedding consists of several skins and some pieces 
of stuff, and a block of wood serves as a pillow. Here and 
there are piled pots, pans, spits, and each household pos- 
sesses a mortar and one or two stones for grinding grain. In 
each house there are jars and demi-johns for the conservation 



6 THE FALASHAS 

of water and of fermented drinks, and there are also large 
reservoirs, made of clay mixed with straw, for the keeping 
of grain in the form of a mound. Baskets of various dimen- 
sions are used to hold clothes, objects of value, and toilet 
articles for women. The interior of the home may also be 
decorated with fire-arms, swords, daggers, lances, and shields, 
and among the educated classes parchment manuscripts are 
hung on the walls. The fire-place is usually in the middle 
of the house; the fire is kept up without interruption, and 
serves them not only for the preparation of their meals, but 
also for illumination during the night and for heating in the 
cold regions of the high plateau. 

In each locality there is a cabin consecrated for divine ser- 
vice called If cs^it? ("the place of prayer"), or Beta-Egzia- 
beher ("the house of God"). With the exception of being 
a little larger and a little more elegant in construction, 
it is generafly the same as the dwelling houses, except that 
in the important religious centres the Falashas construct their 
synagogue after the pattern of the ancient temple of Jeru- 
salem. The Mesgid has a court-yard, and is surrounded by a 
palisade of brush ; the enclosure often serves for public meet- 
ings, and it is used by the Kalien (" priest ") and the Dahteras 
("the learned men ") as a school for the teaching of religion. 
Admission to the syngagogue is forbidden to all strangers not 
belonging to their religion and to those amongst them who 
are Levitically unclean. The whole congregation assembles 
for prayer in the interior of the Mesgid; the place of honor is 
occupied by the Kahens and the Dahteras, about whom are 
grouped the men, and, in a separate section with an entrance 
of its own, the women also attend the services. All recite 
and chant the prayers standing or seated on the ground ; some- 



THE FALASHAS 7 

times they also execute religious dances, especially on the 
Day of Atonement. In the larger communities an altar is 
erected near the main entrance to the synagogue where occa- 
sional sacrifices are offered. The approach to this place is\ 
forbidden to women who are required to remain at a distance 
if they desire to be present at the sacrificial ceremony. Dur- 
ing the sacrificial service the priest and his assistant place 
themselves in the middle with the offering; the faithful about 
them chant special prayers and biblical verses relating to sacri- 
fices. After the offering is made, all retire into the Mesgid, 
where they pass the day in feasting. The interior of the 
Mesgid is not decorated with any image, and the only object 
of ornament consists of pieces of multi-colored material hang- 
ing on the wall, mats upon the floor, the Pentateuch on parch- 
ment spread out upon a pulpit, sacred ritual vessels, and 
musical instruments. Except on the Sabbath and on the Day 
of Atonement, the Falashas accompany their prayers and their 
psalms with drums, bells, zithers, and other resonant instru- 
ments. When these instruments are not used, they are placed 
on one side, and during these days it is forbidden even to touch 
them. 

The biblical ritual observances are carried out accurately 
by the Falashas. They all obey the revealed law. The Sab- 
bath is to them truly a_day of sacrifices to the Lord, and they 
observe it rigorously. This day, the great day, the symbol 
of creation, of the manifestation of God, is held in great 
veneration, and they have a special service for it. This civil- 
izing and social custom is respected by young and old. Thanks 
to this law, everybody participates in the day of rest — men, 
women, children, servants, and beasts. Each individual has 
thus a day on which to rest from his daily struggles and to 



8 THE FALASHAS 

elevate his soul to the Infinite. The culijirfid- man and the 
ignorant one devote themselves to pious practices. The food 
for this day is prepared on the previous day, and from the 
setting of the sun on Friday to the following evening, they 
abstain from all work. After taking a ritual bath, they dress 
themselves in festive attire, and assemble with their families 
in the synagogue in order to celebrate the Sabbath, and they 
remain there until Saturday evening. The Sabbatical repast 
is eaten in common, this forming a part of the prescribed 
service, and rich and poor participate in it. On this day 
of rest and of prayer they feel themselves to be in a paradise 
of purity and sanctity. They assemble, reflect, pray, chant, 
and the day thus passes peaceably and sweetly. 

The Sabbath meals are prepared with more care, and in 
greater abundance, than ordinary meals. A special Sabbath 
bread is prepared; the entire community contributes to its 
preparation, and it is distributed by the priests to those present 
at the synagogue during the intervals of the service. Persons 
to wlibm admittance to the interior of the Mesgid is forbidden 
may not take or touch this bread. It is considered as an 
offering, and takes the place of the sacrifices prescribed in 
the Bible for the Sabbath day. On this day, by reason of a 
special rite, they consume more meat than they do in general, 
and like all Jews they extract the blood from the meat and 
never eat it raw. They do not know of the prohibition against 
eating milk and meat together, and they feast sumptuously 
on these articles of food, especially on Saturday. They eat 
the meat cooked or roasted in melted butter with a highly 
peppered sauce made of powdered beans and seasoned with 
spices. During their meals they drink, especially on the Sab- 
bath, fermented liquors such as mead and beer made of barley 



THE FALASHAS 9 

or of oats. They never f ail^to wash__tiieir han(k _before and 
after meal, nor do they forget to recite a benediction at the 
commencement and at the conclusion of each repast. 

Their annual festivals are the same as those observed by 
other Jews, and are celebrated in the same manner as in our 
communities, but their dates do not correspond entirely with 
ours. There is a difference of one or two days, and this is due 
to the fact that in their_religiaus , calendar the new moon is 
considered as the first day of the month. Their religious year 
commences with the month of Nisan, and with a few excep- 
tions they also preserve the names of the Hebrew months as we 
know them. Their year consists of twelve lunar months of 
twenty-nine or of thirty days each, and every three or four years 
they add a complementary month. ISTot grasping our cycli- 
cal system, they frequently get confused in the fixing of their 
feasts, and sometimes these are not celebrated on the same day 
in the different localities of their dispersion. This happens 
especially with regard to PaSsover in leap years; the lack 
of a co-ordinated system causes different communities to dis- 
agree often on the intercalation of the thirteenth month. It 
has already happened that by a chronological error, a number 
of Kahens and Dabteras wished to defer for six months the 
celebration of Passover and to fix Njsan at the commencement 
of our autumn, which, according to their views, corresponds 
to the month of Abib of the Bible. Although their opinion 
did not prevail, it has left traces in several communities where 
some persons, fearing to transgress the biblical prescription, 
abstain also during the feast of Tabernacles from eating 
leavened bread, and do not partake of any but unfermented 
food during these days. 



10 THE PALASHAS 

The Palashas observe Passover for seven days, and dur- 
ing this time they eat only imleavened bread and do not drink 
any fermented drinks. Several days before the feast, the 
houses are carefully cleaned, all articles of clothing are properly 
washed, and all vessels and utensils thoroughly scoured and 
cleaned like new. Three days before Passover, they stop eat- 
ing leavened bread and take nothing but dried peas or beans, 
and on the eve of Passover they abstain from all food until 
after the sacrifice of the paschal lamb. On this day, a little 
before the setting of the sun, all assemble in the court of the 
synagogue, and in the name of the entire community, the sac- 
rificer offers the paschal lamb upon the altar. The ceremony 
is observed with great pomp; the ritual prescribed in the 
Bible for this sacrifice is followed punctiliously, and after the 
sacrifice is slaughtered and roasted the meat is eaten with 
unleavened bread by the priestly assistants. It is in this 
manner that the festival is inaugurated. On the following 
days they assemble in the Mesgid at fixed hours, observing a 
special ritual and reciting various prayers and biblical texts 
having reference to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. 

The other biblical festivals are also celebrated according to 
prescribed regulations and ceremonies. The Day of Atone- 
ment is solemn, and all observe it rigorously; women as well 
as children from the age of eight years abstain from food 
for twenty-four hours. They are, however, ignorant of our 
national festivals such as Hanukkah and Purim. On the 
other hand, they celebrate several half-holidays each month, 
to remind them of the annual ones. Thus the tenth of each 
month is regarded as a memorial of the Day of Atonement; 
the twelfth as one for Pentecost, which they celebrate fifty 
days after the last day of Passover, that is to say, on the 



THK FALASHAS H 

twelfth day of Sivan ; and the fifteenth of each month is held 
in honor of the feasts of Passover and of Tabernacles. Of 
course, they celebrate also the day of the new moon, and this 
they always observe for only one day. They have also another 
semi-holiday called Arfa-Assert which they celebrate for thirty 
days without regard to the lunar calendar. They also cele- 
brate a second Pentecost fifty days after the Feast of Taber- 
nacles; on this day they meet upon a hill in the open air, 
where they hold divine services and take their meals together. 

The Falashas observe also the fasts to commemorate the 
destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, although the dates do 
not correspond with those of other Jews. By reason of a 
chronological error, they fast on the ninth dav of Tammuz 
and the seventeenth day of Ab, instead of the seventeenth day 
of Tammuz and the ninth of Ab. The fasts are observed by 
everyone, and during these days they abstain from all food 
and drink from the rising to the setting of the sun. Many 
of the more pious men also follow the practice of fasting on 
Mondays and Thursdays of each week. ISTot celebrating Purim, 
they do not, of course, celebrate the Past of Esther on the eve 
of Purim. 

Circumcision is the sign of union among them. This opera- 
tion is performed on the eighth day after the birth of the 
child; but it is never done on the Sabbath, for it is regarded 
as work. They also redeem the first-born male child, and give 
money to the priest or to the synagogue for it. Often they 
devote the first-born male to the priesthood; when they grow 
up, these boys are entrusted to the priests who educate, in- 
struct, and ordain them. The Falasha priest conducts divine 
services, and is the religious head of the community. It is 
also he who offers the sacrifices prescribed in the Bible, which 



13 THE FALASHAS 

are still observed to-day among the Falashas, such as the 
paschal lamb and a few other occasional offerings These.^ 
however, like the Dabteras, though superior to the rest of the 
people in learning, do not in any regard constitute^ajprivileged 
class and do not receive any compensation for theii services, 
except in rare instances, gifts from the laity, in appreciation 
of the instruction and the education which they give to the 
young. 

Among the Palashas there exist no differences of religion 
nor any distinction of class. All profess the same faith, prac- 
tise the" same customs, and live on a basis of equality. The 
priests and the Datteras follow trades, and work like every- 
body else to provide for their needs. Only in the matter of 
headgear are they distinguished from the others; they wear 
turbans of white cloth, while the other Falashas, like all 
Abyssinians, go bare-headed by day and by night, indoors as 
well as out of doors. 

Like their countrymen, they wear a shirt with drawers and 
bloomers; they walk bare-footed as well as bare-headed; but 
more than the other Abyssinians, they take care of their cloth- 
ing which iJaey try always to .keep clean. The laws of puri- 
fication by baths and ablutions are scrupulously followed. 
When they touch anyone not of their community or any non- 
Jewish property, they isolate themselves until the evening, 
and do not come into relations with their own people until 
after having taken a ritual bath. This restriction, it should 
be acknowledged, is much more salutary for them than may 
appear at first sight. By reason of it, they remain immune 
from diseases which rage among their neighbors and which 
often cause terrible panics. This advantage is recognized 



THE FALASHAS 13 

by their compatriots, and all travellers in Abyssinia have 
observed this physical and moral superiority. 

In general, the Falasha woman is superior to her Abyssinian 
sister in hygiene, morals, welfare, and character. Her observ- 
ance of the law of purification and of Niddah have kept her 
clean, pure, and refined. She is free and emancipated with 
an emancipation which is sensible and moderate ; she is neither 
servile nor corrupt. She is not constrained to confine her- 
self to the house like the Christian women of Abyssinia, nor 
to go out veiled like the Muslim. She is also admitted to all 
public meetings, and takes a lively interest in the affairs of 
the community. She occupies herself mainly with her house- 
hold duties, contributes much to the maintenance of her home 
and her children, and, together with her husband, slje partakes 
of joys and sorrows. Often she assists her husband in his 
work, and one meets among the Falashas many women who 
devote themselves to the making of pottery. 

The family life of the Falashas is dignified, patriarchal, and 
noble. The contrast which may be observed between their 
private life and that of other Abyssinians is extremely strik- 
ing, and one cannot but help glorifying the moral code which 
has made them so refined. The husband, the wife, and the 
children constitute a most respectable domestic circle. The 
children have great respect fprjheir parents ; they live at their 
side, and become their prop in old age. Earely does one see 
children deserting their paternal homes in order to give them- 
selves up to their own caprices. The young people marry at 
the age of eighteen or twenty years, and in their community 
there are no bachelors. jSTeither cpn£ubmage. nor polygamy, 
which are common in Abyssinian society, is permitted among 
them,, notwithstanding that the Bible does not forbid these 



14 THE PALASHAS 

.practices. They admit divorce, and when a case presents 
itself, it is tried before a judge, and the declaration is made 
in public in the presence of the parents of the couple. 

The nuptial ceremony is celebrated by a special rite; they 
do not know of the Eetubah in use among other Jews; all 
that they require is witnesses in order to legitimize the union 
of the couple. The Falashas are not familiar with the rabbini- 
cal laws of matrimony, and their traditions relating to it do 
not correspond to ours. Of course, they marry only in their 
own race; mixed marriages do not undermine their commu- 
nity, and in the choice of alliances they seek honorable and 
well-reputed families. By pure, ennobling alliances, as they 
say, they are sure to be able to count upon the perpetuity of 
their race and their traditions. This they regard as their 
greatest duty, and as their past attests, they bend all their 
efforts towards this end. Like other Jews, they take great 
care to inculcate in succeeding generations veneration for the 
religion of their ancestors, and they draw their strength from 
the same source, from the Bible and traditions. 

The Falashas know all the biblical books as well as the 
Apocrypha. — those originating before as well as those coming 
after the time of the first exile. The order of the books of 
the Bible among them differs from that among us, nor do 
they assign the same canonical value to all the books. The 
Five Books of Moses are the pivot, the kernel, the others are 
considered only as the explanation, the commentary. The 
Pentateuch has with them the same sanctity as among all 
Jews; they have the same reverence for it, and they look 
upon it as their highest authority. This book forms the basis 
of their religion, and their whole life is regulated by its pre- 
cepts. They know nothing of the Talmud, but many of their 



THE FALASHAS 15 

traditions harmonize with ours and correspond to our oral 
laws. On the other hand, they possess a large number of 
other holy writings relating to Jewish history and religion. 
Some of these are held in great veneration by them. They 
study them with much devotion, and recite them in the syna- 
gogues during divine services. 

All the books of the Falashas are written in Gheez, the clas- 
sical and literary language of Abyssinia. They do not know 
the Hebrew language, and they are not aware that it still 
exists in modern times. They claim that formerly they pos- 
sessed books in another language and in a different script and 
that these were burnt when their synagogues were destroyed 
during their frequent wars with the Abyssinians, and that 
some old men during the middle of the past century still 
knew how to read and understood the contents of these hooks. 
There is not, however, the slightest historical trace to prove 
this assertion, and it appears that the Falashas forgot the 
Hebrew language at a very early period, and that their ances- 
tors had already, either in Egypt or in Soudan, before their 
entrance into Abyssinia, lost all knowledge of it. Except for 
a few biblical names, nothing of the Hebrew language has 
been preserved among them; even their prayers are recited in 
Gheez. The latter language is little cultivated at this time; 
8Jid even the priests and the Dabteras scarcely know it. For- 
merly there were schools in each Falasha locality where the 
youth studied the Bible and the other religious books which 
were translated for them into the local dialect, but the recent 
revolutions in the country, the famine, the dispersion, and 
especially the invasion in 1888, of Abyssinia by the Dervishes 
of the Soudan, devastated all these educational establishments, 
and the misery prevailing among the Falashas did not permit 



16 THE FALASHAS 

them to establish new institutions since that time. Because 
of the continual disturbances the majority of the new genera- 
tion is reared without any instruction at all, not even the most 
elementary, and they can scarcely understand the prayers 
which they recite. 

The Falashas speak the languages of the region in which 
they dwell, and contrary to the assertion of several travellers, 
they have no dialect of their own. Those who live in the 
central and southern provinces speak Amharic, and those of 
the north employ Tigrigna, two sister languages which are 
spoken in Abyssinia, The Quarigna language, believed by 
several explorers to be the national dialects of the Falashas — 
an opinion which is now rejected — is spoken only in a few 
districts by old people originating from the province of Quara, 
situated on the confines of the Anglo-Egyptian Soudan. The 
Language of Quara has been spoken by the natives of this 
region, and it is from them that the Falashas have taken it. 
It is probable that the first Jewish immigrants came from 
the Soudan and established themselves in this region and that 
it was for centuries their religious and intellectual centre. 
Their expaasion into the interior of Abyssinia took place only 
a long time afterwards, on different occasions following expul- 
sions and deportations suffered during the expeditions of the 
Abyssinians against them. They used the Quarigna language 
a long time among themselves also in their new homes, but 
little by little it became extinct, and they have only preserved a 
few words and expressions which they employ, without under- 
standing them, in their prayers. Outside of the province of 
Quara, the Falashas are completely ignorant of this language, 
speaking only the tongues spoken by the surrounding popula- 



THE FALASHAS 17 

tion. These they regard as their mother-tongues, and in their 
spe ech t hey^arejiot distinguished. in any. way from their com- 
pairiot_s^ They ..express themselves elegantly and felicitously, 
and they are also very skilled 'in the art of oratory for which 
the Abyssinians are noted. An outsider will at first have great 
difficulty to distinguish them from the other natives; it is 
only in their private and religious life that they difEer from 
the others and only by observing these at close range can one 
discern the characteristic traits of their race. Their neigh- 
bors are never confused about this ; they know well how to dis- 
tinguish the Falashas, whom they consider as immigrants, 
as Jews come from other climes to establish themselves in 
their country. 

The history of this Jewish tribe in Abyssinia is still veiled 
in obscurity, and any attempt to investigate their origin en- 
counters many obstacles. The opinion of the Abyssinians, 
which is partly shared also by the Falashas, is that these Jews 
came from Palestine to Ethiopia in the time of King Solomon 
and his alleged son Menilek I. The Ethiopian chronicle 
relates that the queen of Sheba, during her visit to him at 
Jerusalem, conceived a son whose father was Solomon ; that the 
son'was'named Menilek or Ibn al-Hakim, that is to say, the 
son of the sage, and that he became the founder of the royal 
dynasty of Abyssinia. The Abyssinians have appropriated 
this legend, which draws its origin from the biblical passages 
of chapter 10 of the First Book of Kings and from chapter 9 
of the Second Book of Chronicles, mentioned also in our 
midrashic literature, where reference is made to a queen of 
the South, whom the Arabs claim as their own. By this epi- 
sode the Abyssinians establish the origin of the Falashas in 
their country. According to them the queen of Sheba, on her 



18 THE FALASHAS 

return to her kingdom, brought along with her a large number 
of Hebrews, such as scholars and artisans, and upon the birth 
of her son this immigration was considerably augmented. The 
exodus of these Jews from Palestine is explained in very amus- 
ing anecdotes. Menilek I was raised and educated at the court 
of Solomon at Jerusalem, and he was his father's favorite. 
Because he was loved by his following, on account of his 
being handsome and intelligent, the Israelites, fearing that 
he would seize the throne after the death of Solomon, insisted 
that he be sent to rejoin his mother. Solomon reluctantly 
consented to their demand, but on condition that each family 
be required to send its first-born son to accompany Menilek 
into his country and to remain there with him. He had him 
crowned as king of Ethiopia, and sent him home with a large 
following of thousands of Jews. Solomon had also prepared 
for him a copy of the Tables of the Law, which the priests, 
who formed part of his escort, were to take with them. But 
these deceived the wise king, carried away the original from 
the temple, and put the copy in its place. The Tables of the 
Law of Moses, thus stolen from Jerusalem, may be found to 
this very day, the Abyssinians assure us, in the Church of Zion 
at Axum, the ancient capital of Ethiopia and the residence 
of Menilek I. 

An opinion which appears to be more historical is that the 
Falashas are the descendants of those Jews who settled in 
Egypt after the first exile, and who, upon the fall of the 
Persian domination on the borders of the Nile, penetrated 
into the Soudan, whence they went into the western parts 
of the present country of Abyssinia. Then they directed their 
steps towards the interior, and, in time, after the destruction 
of the second temple, their number was 'augmented by fugj- 



THE FALASHAS '""'■■. 19 

tives Avho came to join them; for, upon the shores of the Ked 
Sea and in the whole of Egypt, the Jews, whose land had 
been destroyed by the Romans, continued to suffer from per- 
secution. Then, towards the end of the fifth century of the 
common era, the .ca^xtive Jews led away from southern Arabia, 
followmg the wars of the Abyssinians against the Himyarites, 
augmentecTlh'e number of these Jews who already resided in 
Ethiopia. There they formed themselves into groups, then 
gathered in the same provinces, almost in the same centers, 
and became fused into a single and indissoluble community. 
Protected by the mountains and supported by natives con- 
verted to Judaism, they finally became grouped into a small 
independent state, and this independence they maintained in 
several parts of the empire for hundreds of years. It is 
approximately only since the past two centuries that the 
Falashas have become scattered throughout the entire 
extent of Abyssinia in little groups and families, and to-day 
they are also met with in the most southern provinces of the 
empire, in Choa, in the country of the Gallas, and even in the 
equatorial regions which have but recently come under the 
suzerainty of the Negus, where they live outwardly as Chris- 
tians, as did the Marranos in Spain. 

Their occupation, originally that of military mercenary 
service under the different sovereigns, and later trade on the 
banks of the Nile and on the littoral of the Red Sea, is mainly 
agriculture and manual labor. They are in their country 
almosi: the only people who are able to follow, with any skill, 
the trades which are practised in Abyssinia, and thanks to 
their skill they are on good terms with their non-Jewish com- 
patriots". Abyssinia needs the_ Falashas who furnish the arti- 
cles indispensable for the maintenance of the country. In 



20 THE FALASHAS 

Abyssinia, as in many other places, the masses of the people 
are in perfect harmony with the Jews whom they hold in 
esteem because of their open spirit and their industry. It is 
only the priests who, from time to time, hurl execrations 
against the descendants of the " Deicides " of their Savior, and 
the Falashas have often experienced the consequences of the 
venomous sermons of these apostles of the religion of love. 
The curse of the Church against the Jews had its echo also in 
this part of Africa, and from the time of the introduction of 
Christianity into Abyssinia the history of this country has 
been stained with Jewish blood. On different occasions cru- 
sades were organized against the Falashas, and in each expe- 
dition' inany thousands of them perished. Their ejxistence was 
rendered precarious, they were dislodged and exiled from one 
region to another, and for several hundreds of years they were 
given no respite to enable them to catch their breath and to 
recover from their calamities. Their precarious situation was 
often aggravated by the vexations of temporal authorities who, 
aided by the clergy, always found some pretext for attacking 
the Falashas. The fanatics hurled the anathemas, and the 
savage chief put them into execution. For several centuries 
the Falashas were made to suffer from bloody combats against 
these combined forces, and were subjected to atrocious cruel- 
ties. Even the Abyssinian chronicles written by these cham- 
pions of the Church relate that in these battles several districts 
populated by Falashas were completely devastated, and that 
the inhabitants gained their salvation by the sword in the 
shadow of the " cross of redemption." Numerous Jewish 
communities were literally exterminated and others were de- 
ported into strange provinces where they were compelled to 
do forced labor or to become slaves. Those who escaped from 



THE PALASHAS 31 

these massacres wandered into the deserts to wait for better 
days in order to be able to go back to their homes, or emi- 
grated into various countries, leaving no trace of their where- 
abouts. 

This terrible situation became still more aggravated during 
the last decades of the past century, and at one time it appeared 
that the Jewish tribe was at last at bay and that soon it would 
be a prey to the forces which destroy Israel. Towards the 
middle of the nineteenth century missionaries gathered from 
all parts, and, profiting by the agonized state of our unfor- 
tunate coreligionists whose souls were harassed by so many 
calamities, they succeeded in attaching to themselves thou- 
sands and thousands of these unhappy Jews of Abyssinia. 
Forgotten as they were for hundreds of years bj the entire 
Jewish wofrd~and not being aware of the. existence of their - 
brethren, it was impossible for them, in their simplicity and Ol' 
ignorance of Jewish histor}', to combat this new adversary •; . •' 
who came from outside armed with new weapons. BjijLsince ;- 

they^haie-leained that they are not alone in the world, that 
they are not the last remnant of Israel as they had be- „." 
lieved, and that there still are millions of Jews in the ' 
world, theconversionist movement has come to an end and a 
new ray of hope has illumined all the communities of the 
Falashas. They expect fraternal help from us. They ask',, 
us to help them to establish schools and to secure books for I 
them from which their children may get instruction and the ; 
knowledge of Judaism. They have an ardent desire for 
knowledge, are disposed towards progress, and strive to attain 
perfection. To preserve them from destruction and from 
assimilation is a duty incumbent upon all Jews. 



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